Victoria Avenue shines bright

THE Hills' country music act Victoria Avenue are on a mission to introduce more people to live music.

The girl group — comprising Holly Moore, 21, and 20-year-olds Tiara Maceri and Peta Ingleton — hope their blend of country-pop music will attract fans to the live country music scene, especially in The Hills where dance music has become the predominant form of music played at clubs and venues.

"We feel that it's [live music] sort of under the radar," Ingleton said.

"Songs with DJ influences are popular for people, especially our age.

"It's an experience when you see live music being performed and that's what hope to do."

The three friends have been singing together since they were 13 years old.

They met at a singing school in The Hills and from there they decided to join forces.

Since forming Victoria Avenue in 2007, they've been performing around Sydney, have won several talent quests and performed on Australia's Got Talent and The X-Factor Australia.

Ingleton said they experimented with singing different styles of music before deciding on country music.

"People always pull a funny face when we tell them that we sing country music," Ingleton said.

"When we sing country music, it just feels right."

The country-pop act released their first single, Quit You, on Wednesday.

Since its release, the song has taken out the No.1 spot on the Australian iTunes Country Songs chart and No.41 on the Country Music Channel Top 50 music chart.

Ingleton said she was thrilled with the song's success.

"It's crazy," she said.

"We first heard that we made number one when we were performing at our single launch.

"My manager whispered in my ear that we had reached number one and I was so excited that I announced it to everyone.

"We beat Taylor Swift on the chart and I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life."

To add to their success, the group performed at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January.

Ingleton said they were worried at first, because they didn't know how people would take their style of country music.

"On the first day people watched and then continued to come back each time after ten days," she said.